YA – Vial of Tears

Bishara, Cristin. Vial of Tears. Holiday House, 2021. 978-0-823-44641-4. $18.99. 320 p. Grades 9-12.

Sixteen year old Samira is just trying to get by. Her father is missing in action, and her mother has a habit of disappearing for days at a time. When she receives a vase containing antique coins from her great grandfather in Lebanon, Samira and her sister Rima are unwillingly transported to the Phoenician underworld by the owner of one of the coins: a half god named Eshmun. Samira is desperate to get home, but when she is separated from Rima, she must rely on Eshmun and his companion Teth to find her. However, the underworld is a dark realm with dangerous creatures lurking around every corner, and Sam doesn’t know if she can count on anyone to help her and her sister get home. In a world where everyone seems to be after power or wealth, who can you trust?

THOUGHTS: Vial of Tears is another great title to recommend to readers who enjoy reading about mythology, and Phoenician mythology is definitely unique subject matter for young adult fantasy literature. Readers also will enjoy the sibling relationship between Samira and Rima and Sam’s memories of her time with her father.

Fantasy          Emily Hoffman, Conestoga Valley SD

YA – Gods & Monsters

Mahurin, Shelby. Gods & Monsters. HarperTeen, 2021. 978-0-063-03893-6. $19.99. 624 p. Grades 9-12.

Lou, Reid, Beau, and Coco are looking for allies to defeat Morgane and her clan of dame blanc witches while still heartbroken and recovering from a devastating loss. Lou is not herself, and although Reid recognizes that something is wrong, he cannot understand why he’s repulsed by even her touch, but saving her may take the ultimate sacrifice. As the plot progresses, new friendships are formed, and through the strength of their bond, they prepare to overcome the obstacles that will lead them to a final battle between good and evil. 

THOUGHTS: In this action packed conclusion to Serpent & Dove, Mahurin ties up loose ends and also gives readers a chance to experience Lou and Reid falling in love all over again. Although I would still classify this title as young adult, there are a few scenes between Lou and Reid that almost cross the line into new adult. In the end, this trilogy is a must have in any young adult library collection and a great series for readers who enjoy fantasy and romance.

Fantasy          Emily Hoffman, Conestoga Valley SD

YA – A Dark and Starless Forest

Hollowell, Sarah. A Dark and Starless Forest. Clarion Books, 2021. 978-0358424413. $19.99. 368 p. Grades 9-12.

“The flowers that grow from my magic are usually indistinct little things, but those flowers – I knew those flowers. They were mandrake flowers. In legend, mandrakes grow where the blood falls under a gallows.” Derry and her adopted siblings all have one thing in common: they all have magical abilities. Abandoned by their families, the girls live with their caretaker, Frank. In addition to caring for the girls, he teaches them to use their magic and protects them from the dangers of the outside world. He prefers to call them alchemists rather than witches, and over the years, the girls have bonded and consider themselves a family. When Jane, the oldest, disappears, Derry knows she didn’t run away. Desperate to find her, Derry ventures into the dark forest that surrounds their isolated cabin looking for answers. Each night, she’s drawn to the forest, and while her magic begins to grow, darkness takes root within her and she soon discovers that nothing is what it seems. As more of her sisters go missing, protecting her family becomes her most important priority, and she soon realizes that the forest may not be the dangerous presence lurking in the shadows of her life.

THOUGHTS: This is a fantasy novel unlike any that I’ve read before, and by the end, it felt a bit like a horror movie. One of the book’s best features is the diversity and representation among the main characters including sexual orientation, gender identities, race, mental health, body image, and even deafness. Although the book is fantasy, it covers a lot of real world issues like abuse, neglect, and grooming but leaves romance out of the plot. The mystery of the forest and the disappearance of the girls will keep readers hooked and intrigued until the very end.

Fantasy          Emily Hoffman, Conestoga Valley SD

YA – Gilded

Meyer, Marissa. Gilded. Feiwel & Friends, 2021. 978-1-250-61884-9. $19.99. 512 p. Grades 8-12.

“Sometimes superstitions are all that we have been given by the gods in order to make sense of our world. Superstitions and stories.” Serilda has always been a storyteller. When she was a baby, she was blessed with this gift, or curse, by the god of lies and mischief. When Serilda begins a story, she doesn’t know how it’s going to end, and she’s just as entranced and bewitched as her listeners. Children adore her unique talent, but others simply view her as the untrustworthy and deceptive miller’s daughter who spins stories and lies. When Serilda convinces the fearsome Erlking that she was out of her house on the night of a hunt collecting straw that she spins into gold in order to save two moss maidens hiding nearby, she soon finds herself inside of his dungeon with a spinning wheel, her chance to prove her story was not a falsehood. Just when all hope seems lost, a boy named Gild appears in her cell and agrees to help her, for a price. Serilda begins to realize that she may never be free of the Erlking, even if she can complete this impossible task, and she soon finds herself right in the middle of one of her own fantastical, mysterious, and dangerous tales.

THOUGHTS: Marissa Meyer has created a new world for her retelling of the Rumpelstilskin tale. Unlike the Lunar Chronicles, this new series is not science fiction, nor is it standalone like Heartless. Rather, she brings to life the dark and foreboding atmosphere reminiscent of classic fairy tales where danger lurks around every corner, and happy endings are few and far between. Readers will be drawn into Gilded just as eager listeners are drawn into Serilda’s mesmerizing and spellbinding tales.

Fantasy          Emily Hoffman, Conestoga Valley SD

Elem./MG – Northwind

Paulsen, Gary. Northwind. Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2022. 246 p. 978-0-374-31420-0. Grades 4-6. $17.99.

In his final book, Paulsen, the master craftsman of adventure fiction, has created another engaging survival story. Set along an unnamed northern coastline, this novel is reminiscent of Hatchet, but set hundreds of years earlier. Leif is a twelve year old orphan boy pressed into service as a mate on a seal hunting ship. Before the ship heads further north to find more seals, Leif and five others are left behind at a fish camp to catch and smoke salmon for the return voyage. Instead of their own ship, a vessel full of men dying from cholera appears and contaminates the camp, leaving Leif as the sole survivor of the deadly illness. Remembering the words of his deceased mentor, Old Carl, the boy heads north in a canoe and his first task is to find a burial site for Little Carl, another child from the ship. After nearly being ambushed by a bear, Leif quickly learns that he needs to develop skills in order to survive. After honing his abilities catching fish, making fires, and cooking, he begins to carve a storyboard that tells the story of his many adventures, which draws him closer to the mother he never knew. Leif observes a pod of orcas hunting for salmon, which leads to a frenzied battle between the ravens and eagles for leftovers. He is amazed by the beauty of the glaciers and the whale feeding dance in the bay. The boy nearly drowns in a whirlpool, but later is able to overcome strong waves by observing some dolphins. Soon Leif realizes that he is no longer the orphan boy that he was. His world, once confined to the bowels of a ship, has enlarged and he feels joy about exploring it more before returning to the world of man. In the author’s note, Paulsen explains that the novel’s coastline is based on his own experiences sailing up the California coast as well as in the fjords of Norway.

THOUGHTS: The detailed descriptions of the setting and Leif’s actions put readers into an immersive experience of the sights and sounds of a whales’ feeding frenzy, a menacing whirlpool, calving glaciers, friendly dolphins, and more. This page turner will appeal to fans of Gary Paulsen and to any reader who enjoys a book with a lot of action. This is an essential purchase for all elementary and middle school libraries.

Adventure Fiction          Denise Medwick, Retired, PSLA Member

Elem. – Cat Dog

Fox, Mem and Mark Teague. Cat Dog. Beach Lane Books, 2021. 978-1-416-98688-1. Unpaged. $17.99. Grades PreK-1.

A dog is taking a nap on the couch. A cat is chasing a mouse. The cat wants the dog’s help, but he is asleep. The mouse gets away from the cat. The dog finally wakes up. The mouse comes out of his hole, and ….

THOUGHTS: The story ends there with the reader trying to figure out what happened between the cat, the dog, and the mouse. This is a beautifully illustrated story, simple in words and color that connects the reader directly to the story by asking questions. The interactive text makes the reader another character in the room with the dog, the cat, and the mouse.  This is a great story to teach story sequencing and predictions. It’s also a lot of fun for read aloud.

Picture Book        Erin Bechdel, Beaver Area SD

YA – You’ll be the Death of Me

McManus, Karen M. You’ll be the Death of Me. Delacorte Press, 2021. 978-0-593-17586-6. 326 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Ivy, Cal, and Mateo used to be friends, but then high school happened.  Now in their senior year, things aren’t quite going as they had hoped.  After losing the senior class presidential election, Ivy doesn’t want to be at school to hear the winner’s speech. Cal was stood up for a breakfast date, so he’s not in the mood for school, and Mateo’s just in the right place at the right time. Cal suggests the three recreate “The Greatest Day Ever” when they skipped a class field trip in Boston, and they agree. Once in Boston, the three end up following another classmate, Boney Mahoney, into an abandoned warehouse where Ivy finds him dead. Caught up in a murder-mystery, with Ivy as the prime suspect (according to all of the gossip and “news” reports), the three try to figure out what happened and how to get out of this mess. Things only get worse as history is revealed and current situations are realized.

THOUGHTS: Although it started out slow, You’ll Be the Death of Me keeps the reader questioning what they know and don’t know. Ivy, Cal, and Mateo are all unreliable narrators who continually hide information from one another leading to more mystery beyond the death of Boney Mahoney. This title will fly off the shelves with all of McManus’s books.

Mystery          Erin Bechdel, Beaver Area SD

MG – The Last Cuentista

Higuera, Donna Barba. The Last Cuentista. Levine Querido, 978-1-646-14089-3. 320 p. $17.99. Grades 5-9.

In the year 2061, a comet has been knocked off course and is hurtling to planet Earth. While the majority of earth’s citizens will die as the comet collides with the planet, a small group of citizens are selected to travel to space and prepare to make a new home on planet Sagan. Petra, her brother Javier, and her scientist parents make the cut, but her beloved grandmother Lita does not. Petra and her grandmother have a special relationship, strengthened by the cuentos, or stories, that Lita tells her. Petra lives for these moments with her grandmother and vows that she will remember every single one of her grandmother’s cuentos so she always has a piece of her to share with others. After boarding the ship that takes them away from Earth, Petra and her family are frozen for 380 years inside stasis pods until they reach Sagan. While frozen, each person receives a brain download that inputs all kinds of knowledge so they are fully educated and ready to colonize a new planet when they arrive at their destination. Hundreds of years later, as Petra is taken out of her stasis, she realizes very quickly that she is the only one that remembers anything about Earth – and the plan for colonization has changed. A group called The Collective has taken over the ship and has plans to erase everything relating to Earth and its human inhabitants. According to them, the humans of Earth have made a lot of mistakes, and they do not intend on repeating (or remembering) those mistakes on their new planet. Petra realizes that if she wants Earth’s cuentos to live on, she must fight The Collective from the inside.

THOUGHTS: This book has received a slew of awards, including this year’s Newbery Medal. The Mexican-American main character is a strong female hero that readers will root for. It is a beautiful story filled with loss and hope, which makes it a perfect cuento. A must-purchase for middle grade libraries.

Science Fiction            Danielle Corrao, Manheim Central SD

Elem. – The Cat on the Mat: All About Mindfulness

Worth, Bonnie. The Cat on the Mat: All About Mindfulness. Random House, 2021. 978-0-593-37935-6. 45 p. $9.99. Grades K-3.

The beloved Cat in the Hat is back, this time to give readers tips on managing all of the stressors life tends to throw at us. In an ode to mindful meditation, the Cat in the Hat encourages readers to just sit, breathe, listen to the sounds around them, feel each body part from the inside, and focus on the present. He goes on to explain some of the benefits of being mindful, such as learning to focus and listen better and learning to be kinder to oneself and others. All of this wisdom is presented in rhyming verse and accompanied by animated illustrations that readers have come to expect from the Cat in the Hat.

THOUGHTS: Considering all of the stressors thrown at us during the last couple of years, I would say this is a very timely book and a reasonable purchase for all elementary collections. Give it to Dr. Seuss fans, students who are in stressful situations, or fans of Cosmic Kids Yoga.

Picture Book          Julie Ritter

Elem. – Mole in a Black & White Hole

Sediva, Tereza. Mole in a Black & White Hole. Thames & Hudson, 2021. 978-0-500-65205-3. Unpaged. $16.95. PreK-1.

Mole lives alone in a dark, damp, underground hole. His only friend is a bright pink chandelier that hangs from the ceiling (which readers can see is actually a root vegetable). Chandelier tries to persuade Mole to come to the surface, where there is sunshine and lots of color and life to be found, but Mole isn’t so sure. One day, Mole awakens to a warm sunbeam on his cheek and realizes that Chandelier is gone! Mole is very upset, but remembers what Chandelier told him about the world above. He finally finds the courage to climb up through the hole and explore, and what he finds changes his whole outlook on life. Unique illustrations consist of horizontal two-page spreads that show a distinct division between the black and white underground and the colorful aboveground. This uplifting story about finding the beauty in things is sure to stir something in all readers.

THOUGHTS: I love the subtle message conveyed by this story about optimism, determination, and intentionality. In the words of Chandelier, “There is so much color and so much life to be found. But to find it, you must search for it.”

Picture Book           Julie Ritter, PSLA Member